Friday, April 29, 2011

Hodge Podge Chicken

Hi there, I hope you all are enjoying your freaky Friday night! :)

I'm back to share a new weekend night-in recipe with you guys tonight.

I have to admit, this one isn't all that creative, but it wasn't too shabby either! ;)

Last night, I knew it would be best for us to hunker down and stay in tonight with all of my studying this weekend and the moving-related expenses piling up.

I scratched my head a little, and knew a crock pot dinner would be the best option since I'd be tired from studying all day & probably not in the mood to cook up a storm in the kitchen once I got home.

You might have noticed I've been doing a LOT of crock pot stuff lately.  It's just so easy peasy and it really never fails me! :) Plus, who doesn't love coming home to that delicious smell??

I promise next week I will have an non-slow-cooker recipe for you all, but for now, let's get to it!

I search online and found some recipes for Crock Pot Chicken Alfredo. This sounded AH-mazing, because I feel like we've been doing so much tomato-based stuff lately, so I was ready to switch it up.

As they will, plans kinda changed once I got to the grocery store.  I mosied on over to the "Pasta Sauce" aisle at Whole Fizzle expecting to find a wide variety of deliciously over-priced Alfredo sauces.

Not so much.


Whole Foods had a HU-mungo selection of pasta sauces (this pic probably shows about 1/10th of the selection), but I was dumb-founded to find only ONE Alfredo sauce in the entire aisle.  That's right -- UNO.  Do you see that little guy there towards the middle?? It's like playing Where's Waldo trying to find a white sauce in this store!

I decided to roll with it, and picked up the one-and-only choice.  I had a mini heart attack.  That little sucker has like 5000 calories in it and 500 million grams of fat.

I don't expect Alfredo sauce to be made with lettuce, but seriously, this was not happening.  My thighs were screaming "don't dooo it!!"

I stared at the selection for about 10 minutes, and finally landed on this choice:


Lucini Savory Tomato Parmigiano Sauce

This stuff looked & sounded yummy -- and it bosted EVOO, 100% au naturale, and no sugar added.  Sign me up! 

After witnessing the fairy tale this morning, I got to cookin'. 

Jessica's Hodge Podge Crock Pot Chicken


3 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, cubed
1 onion, finely chopped
2 red bell peppers, sliced up into 1/2 inch(ish) pieces
2 cups of broccoli florets (fresh or frozen works just fine!)
1 jar of your choice of pasta sauce (next time, I will try Alfredo)
1/2 to 1 full cup of dry white wine (I used some leftova sauvignon blanc)
1 tsp minced garlic
2 teaspoons of dried basil


Step #1: Pull out yurr Crock Pot, and get her plugged in.

Step #2: Layer the pepper slices on the bottom of the pot.

Step #3: Add broccoli florets on top of the peppers.

Step #4: Throw the onion, followed by the minced garlic, into the mix.

Step #5: Layer the cubed chicken on top of the mixture.

Step #6: (The best part, IMO) Pour the wine into the crock pot.


**Tip: I like to pour any added "liquids" down the sides of the pot, so that whatever is on the bottom stays moist.


Step #7: Pour the entire jar of pasta sauce on top of the chicken (spread evenly so it's all covered).

Step #8: Sprinkle the basil on top of the sauce.


Step #9: Cover the pot with the lid and turn it onto "low."

Step #10: You know the drill..."set it, and forget it!" Let your meal cook all day (mine cooked for about 8 or 9 hours, and was perfecto!).


Behave Potty! I'll eat you later! 

Step #11: Come home to the amazing smell of a delicious meal.

Serve this dish alone with some freshly grated Parmesan (if you want a stew-like dish), or with some whole wheat linguine for a little more substance.


This stuff hit the spot!

The chicken was juicy, the veggies were perfectly cooked, and the sauce was the j.a.m.


I even used REAL shredded Parmesan cheese, not the fakey stuff in the green plastic container.

I think the wine I used for this recipe would be great for sippin along side the meal.  It was a super inexpensive Sauvignon Blanc (right around $10), courtesy of Woodbridge.


Can't go wrong, it's very light & refreshing for Spring!

This one might have been a hodge podge, but I think it will be making the rounds in our house again in the near future.  Happy bellies.

I hope you all have a great night & weekend!

I'm off to try to convince Justin to watch Little Fockers. Heheh :)

xoxo

Jess

0 comments:

Post a Comment